Standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog…thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

Find out more about Dana at http://www.danamentink.com.

My Impressions:

She’s a bookaholic, he’s into movies. Both of them are trying to bring to life other’s dreams. But is that what God really wants for theme? Along the way they acquire a few critters that show them the way to go. That, in a nutshell, is Dana Mentink’s latest slightly quirky, thoroughly sweet romance, Fetching Sweetness. Oh, there is more to the story, but you’ll just have to dive in to find out what scrapes and adventures Stephanie Pink, super associate literary agent and bad boy movie theater mogul Rhett Hastings encounter.

Fetching Sweetness is full of big personalities from two-legged characters Stephanie and Rhett to the four-footed, furry characters of Sweetness and Panny. This contemporary romance takes place on the road in a rusting and leaking aged travel trailer. As Stephanie and Rhett travel up the coast of the Pacific Northwest, they learn a lot about each other and themselves. Namely, that man often plans and plans, but it’s God’s path that counts. Both characters have been on the outs with God. Rhett is trying to hear God’s voice, but Stephanie doesn’t want anything do with what God wants. Stephanie believes  . . . her plan was better. Unless it wasn’t. (p. 192) Wow, that sounds so familiar to me. The theme of God’s plans vs man’s plans runs throughout the novel. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

God loved bad men too, sinners one and all. That was comforting. But He worked things out in unexpected ways, and that was not. (p.60)

. . . just because things don’t go according to plan, that doesn’t mean they’re turning out wrong. (p. 160)

I admit that this book started out a bit slow for me, but it really didn’t take long to be captured by the fun and funny, real and relatable characters and of course the cute dogs! Spiritual truths tended to hit me on the head, making me stop and think a bit before continuing.

Fetching Sweetness is a good weekend kind of book — when you have some time to relax and spend a few hours reading. How about taking it along on your next road trip!

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

To purchase this book, click HERE.

(Thanks to LitFuse and Harvest House for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Giveaway!

Celebrate the release of Fetching Sweetness with Dana by entering to win the Sweetness Unleashed Prize Pack!

One grand prize winner will receive:
A copy of Fetching Sweetness
A $75 Visa cash card
A library book necklace
A dog-inspired insulated shopping tote

Enter today by clicking HERE, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 24. The winner will be announced August 25 on Dana’s blog.

Tags: contemporary romance fiction, Dana Mentink

Take one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog, and you’re ready for a lesson in love . . . Tippy style.

Pro baseball pitcher Cal Crawford is not a dog guy. When he inherits his deceased mother’s elderly dog, Tippy, he’s quick to call on a pet-sitting service.

Gina isn’t thrilled to be a dog sitter when her aspirations lie in the classroom. Furthermore, she can’t abide the unfriendly Cal, a man with all the charm of a wet towel. But with no other prospects and a deep love for all things canine, she takes the job caring for Tippy.

As Gina travels through Cal’s world with Tippy in tow, she begins to see Cal in a different light. Gina longs to show Cal the God-given blessings in his life that have nothing to do with baseball or fame. When her longing blooms into attraction, Gina does her best to suppress it. But Cal is falling in love with her too . . . .

Discover the charming story of Tippy, the dog who brought a family together.

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.
Find out more about Dana at http://www.danamentink.com.

My Impressions:

What can be better than a story that features a dog? A love story that features an adorable dog! Sit, Stay, Love is a contemporary romance with plenty of sparks and a dog that always steals the show. Gina, the pet-sitter, and Cal, the pro baseball player, don’t hit it off at first. But Tippy, an overweight, geriatric Dachshund knows how to shake things up, even with a man who is grieving and a woman who thinks she’ll never really measure up. A quick and humor-filled read, Sit, Stay, Love is a sure winner.

There is a lot to love about this novel. The characters are genuine and relatable with real life emotions, doubts, hurts and fears. The plot is inventive and keeps the pages turning. The faith message is woven seamlessly throughout. And of course their is Tippy. Tippy is clueless, lovable and slightly mischievous and wins the hearts of whoever she encounters, including this reader. The best thing about this book? A portion of the sales will go to Muttville Senior Dog Rescue!

Perfect for those who love a light romance or for your favorite dog lover, Sit, Stay, Love is a recommended read!

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

To purchase this book, click HERE. 

(Thanks to Harvest House Publishers for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

A copy of Sit, Stay, Love
A $75 Visa cash card
A basket filled with Tippy-themed goodies
Travel-themed decorator box
Reading dog statue
Dog journal
Poems for Dog Lovers
Snuggle Paws fleece blanket from Animal Rescue Site
Pawprint scarf
Doxie desk pen
Pupmobile auto magnet

Enter today by clicking HERE. But hurry! The giveaway ends on April 25th. The winner will be announced April 26th on Dana’s blog.

Tags: contemporary romance fiction, Dana Mentink